William Y. Slack

William Yarnel Slack (1 August 1816-21 March 1862) was a Brigadier-General of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War and a divisional commander.

Biography
William Yarnel Slack was born in Mason County, Kentucky in 1816, and he worked as a lawyer in Chillicothe; he helped to raise funds for the construction of the University of Missouri. In 1846, he raised a company of US Army volunteers during the Mexican-American War, serving under Sterling Price. He served in the Missouri General Assembly and advocated slavery, ratifying the new Missouri state constitution. In 1861, he became a Brigadier-General of the state militia, and he was wounded at Wilson's Creek. In 1862, after fighting at the Battle of Pea Ridge, he was again wounded in the hip, and he died two weeks later after his health deteriorated. He died in a Benton County, Arkansas farm on 21 March 1862 at the age of 45.